Tag Archives: Jenni Matz

Bestselling, big-theming rock band Arcade Fire have formally announced the release of their “first feature film,” The Reflektor Tapes, for a limited run September 24. In a modest statement last week, the Grammy-winning Quebec outfit described the latest frame for their anthemic, frequently populous act as “a unique cinematic experience, meeting at the crossroads of documentary, music, art and personal history.” According to Spin and Consequence of Sound, little else is known about the project except that director Kahlil Joseph, a Sundance award winner who has made shorts with Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, shot the band as it toured behind 2013 album Reflektor and previewed a rough cut at the California Institute for the Arts last fall. Oh, and the movie will feature a previously unreleased Arcade Fire track. We expect big choruses, strange costumes, and crowded stages.

The “first feature film” thing is a bit odd, though, given the indisputable existence of Miroir Noir, the 2008 doc that followed Arcade Fire as they made and toured behind Neon Bible. Respectively directed and shot by Vincent Morisset and Vincent Moon, two of the more interesting guys in the music film game, Miroir Noir is, after all, 76 minutes long, although it didn’t play on big screens outside a few festivals, so whatever, Win Butler. The oversight/hair-split raises a bemused eyebrow only due to Miroir Noir’s messy history, Moon having noisily disowned both film and band over post-production conflicts. (On his website he cheekily describes it as “produced by the arcade fire / edited by way too many people.”) Judge for yourself on Vimeo, where the impish Frenchman has helpfully posted the whole film. In the meantime, Arcade Fire has issued a pair of teasers for The Reflektor Tapes, one very short and one very long. Continue reading →

“Rye Coalition has had the worst luck of any band I can think of,” Chunklet magazine publisher Henry H. Owings says in Jenni Matz’s music documentary Rye Coalition: The Story of the Hard Luck 5, and by the end of the film you believe it. Certainly, the Jersey City quintet come by that subtitle honestly. Lots of indie bands have been swallowed up and spit out by the music industry, but few have seen their shot at the brass ring come so unexpectedly and crash so quickly and spectacularly.

Singer Ralph Cuseglio, guitarists Jon Gonnelli and Herb Wiley, drummer Dave Leto, and bassist Justin Morey had logged nearly a decade of basement/dive bar gigs and thousands of miles in dodgy vans when they landed a major-label deal in 2003. Over the years Rye built pockets of fans and drew press plaudits with a post-hardcore sound that underpinned stop-start dynamics and aggressive vocals that recalled Fugazi and Jesus Lizard with chunky riffing (they wore their classic-rock influences proudly on their sleeves, and in their tongue-in-cheek song titles) and a wild, pinballing stage presence that separated them from the emo crowd they were often lumped with.

Unfortunately, their deal was with ill-fated Dreamworks Records, which was sold by the time Rye went into an LA studio with Dave Grohl producing their fourth album. Industry machinations left the album in limbo (aptly titled Curses, it was eventually released by tiny New Jersey label Gern Blandsten), slinging the band back to Jersey City, obscurity, and splitsville. But Matz’s film, featuring gig and personal footage she shot of Rye throughout their career as well as interviews with numerous collaborators and admirers (Grohl, Steve Albini, members of the Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, Nation of Ulysses, and the Mars Volta) isn’t just a cautionary tale of the music biz meat grinder but a rousing fan’s-eye view of an overlooked band and an underdog portrait of five tight-knit guys who went through the wringer and came out bloodied and ultimately unbowed.

Jersey City emo/punk band Rye Coalition did everything they were supposed to do for a decade – starve daily, rock nightly, criss-cross America in a van building an audience gig by gig – only to see it all fall apart just as they signed to a major and got a certified rock star to produce their record. Jenni Matz’s music documentary is culled from 20 years of tour footage and home movies and features interviews Dave Grohl, Steve Albini, and other fans from bigger bands. It comes out on DVD/Blu-ray on January 13 via MVD (disclosure: a content partner with our VOD site MusicFilmWeb.tv), who synopsize thusly:

When they signed with one of the world’s biggest record labels, Rye Coalition was primed to finally get their glory, or so it seemed. Like countless rockers before them, childhood best friends started a band in a basement with a couple simple goals in mind: have fun and play good music. As one of the first bands to develop the new “emo” sound, they were at the forefront of a movement that included Shellac, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker and Karp (with whom they later recorded a legendary 12″ split). Rye Coalition’s first recording was a demo cassette tape (1994′s Dancing Man, self-released), backed by a tour in a beat up schoolbus long before most of them had their driver’s license. As their talent and fan base grew, they released albums on indie labels and toured the country for over ten years on bigger and bigger bills (Mars Volta, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters). After gaining momentum from 2002′s On Top LP, engineered by Steve Albini, they were signed to Dreamworks Records and none other than Dave Grohl (Nirvana) came on as their producer. Then, it all imploded.

The filmmaker has continuously documented these singular rockers for over a decade, brazenly chronicling choice moments with Rye Coalition (and those who know them well) on tour, at home and in the studio. Although the band was praised by critics and supported by an absurdly dedicated grassroots fan base, somehow these Jersey rockers never got their due. Until now.